Black Sail

Archer is truly disgusting, like a kid in an argument, directly attacking appearances, leaving Yajian Qie totally at a loss for a moment.

Originally, Yajian Qie didn't have a killing intent tonight.

Unlike Ox, who made a fool of himself getting busted once, even though the Eastern Sea Dog Pirates never had much of a reputation, now it's even more confirmed.

Tonight, Ben just thought about teaching a lesson, maybe rendering some people useless, who cares about the Eight Great Vajra in the papers, twenty or thirty years ago when you dealt with Zote, sure, but now just killing a half-dead old man, people might think it was impressive.

But now he's genuinely moved to kill, after all the time mixing in Narrow Sea, such blatant, undisguised insult is a first.

The public perception of nightlife is a place where young people mess around, very pure, detached from highbrow tastes.

Actually, it's not like that.

Nightlife operates counter to the times; the more society progresses, the harder nightlife becomes.

Although Magic Banquet wants to attract true bigwigs, known for good management and reputation.

But on Heroic Avenue, because of Lostra's gang history, thugs and hooligans are plenty.

The places with cheaper drinks aren't nightlife, they're Martial Arts Halls.

Where the bro locks the Demon-locking Tower, the ice sister suppresses the Demon Cave, Ye Zi keeps flying and then wearies, hits eighteen times in ten seconds as if meeting Catherine, ordered ten beers at entry, stomach holding just one, nine bottles went straight to the skull.

But turning Magic Banquet into a Martial Arts Hall is absolutely impossible, how else to attract wealthy patrons like Chanel to spend money, got to invent clever names.

"Duval, I remember there used to be a stage here, why isn't it used?"

Yajian Qie's suggestion was for Duval to clear out the stage to peel a few folks tonight.

Many places on Heroic Avenue have stages.

Not all nightlife is about clubs; you need Yellow Gambling Poison to attract people.

Gambling with only poker, without visual impact, is too boring, often needing fighters to brawl.

Only recent Lostra government policies pushed gangs toward the gray economy, not stopping their survival but urging restraint.

Such public violence issues must be shut down.

Magic Banquet is sensible, hasn't used it in a long time. Though its damage is low, relying on quality clientele, it remains one of the best places on Heroic Avenue. The lack of Lord Dor's goods troubled many, but the Great Wetland Dragon People's stuff isn't bad either, still going strong.

Duval naturally understands, the stage must be reinstated, as Yajian Qie arrived, his confidence soared, and he started venting past frustrations.

"Activate it now.

The shop's stock is insufficient, the drinks consumed were too many, all sold out, need to fetch from the storeroom, I ask the Dark Elf gentleman to settle the bill for our convenience to link with company finances."

Duval straightforwardly demanded money, brought tonight's ledger, laid a long list in front of Shadi.

Magic Banquet's standard is high, even if not a wealthy patron, booth fees aside, to play here costs at least Golden Dragon level, equating to around fifty thousand bucks.

Shadi saw the total with seven zeroes in back, instantly dumbfounded, like, I'm paying your mother?

He never planned to pay.

Shadi thought of running a tab, see how they handle it, but Archer started acting up.

Morison achieved financial freedom with zero copper coins.

Archer acts freely, meeting Liszt's crew over a dine and dash.

"Coming here to have fun is a favor to you, don't get cocky."

Archer's one line reached disgusting levels, not knowing what he came for tonight, just his daily routine.

Chanel twitched, this is so classic! Like a standard template of low-level henchmen in novels—does it need to be this typical?

Shadi's head buzzed, Old Man, championship-level thug.

Duval delighted!

This was the moment he waited for.

Lose, and have your reputation shattered!

"What to do now... Our shop operates legally, reports to the Judicial Hall have been delayed."

Duval played the victim, but he truly was a victim.

"No worries, brothers, this is excessive, I know you, on the newspaper some time ago, Archer, right? I want to duel you."

Yajian Qie wasn't reckless, got a basic understanding of those present, the strongest one here counts as that Hall-level Adventurer Chuan Che, but he was already dead drunk.

Next down is Magnus, chosen by the Rich Sister, claimed as the strongest Heroic Level; if that's deserved, who knows.

From Yajian Qie's years of experience, most adventurers look great but are useless.

It made Archer laugh.

"Where'd this punk come from, think the ability to fight counts? Out here, you need backing." Archer's voice boomed, "You, duel with me? Go home and jerk off."

Archer didn't care about reputation. Refusing the duel equaled cowardice. Worldly norms are ineffective against him—super multi-dimensional defense 3D person, championship-level, underdog.

Chanel's friend tugged her hand, sensed the bad vibes, Archer's words dropped their impression of this group to zero. Slowly, she distanced for safety, losing interest in the faux Ancient Divine Continent Elf.

But Chanel seemed rooted, her challenge desire peaked by Magnus, if she didn't score she'd lose sleep for weeks, ignoring friends, wanting to see how things developed.

Confident her side was safe, Magnus's contrast among thugs, who gets that, folks? A real F426 emerged at the club, top-grade.

And a gentleman among a pack of dog pirates.

Conversely, like a guy at a bar surrounded by gold-diggers, finding a classically poised beauty forced by friends to come for the first time, top-notch.

This extreme contrast, Chanel truly couldn't hold it together. This guy can play for at least a month.

But Chanel still had her one trick that could conquer everything.

"I'll settle it for them. Swipe the card."

Chanel casually pulled out a Black Gold Credit Card used by Brahmans in Luoguo from her bag, determined to take down Magnus.

Even her best friend couldn't hold it in, saying, "Girl, you're going all out for a mechanical arm, huh?"

The developments completely exceeded Shadi's expectations. With Brother Sha present, nothing would happen; even Three-body People had to take a slap, though his elder was now having a wild time.

More than tonight's outcome, he wanted to know the follow-up story of Brother Ma and Chanel!

Archer was even more provocative, "You're really going all out for a disabled person? I order you to accept this girl's goodwill!"

Duval and Yajian Qie were utterly dumbfounded. Really? How did it get to this point? These people clearly came to make trouble. Sis, you're making it difficult for both sides, don't stir things up, okay?

Magnus was the one who couldn't take it anymore, just wanting to end tonight quickly. Since the Black Sail people were useless, he had to step up himself.

He's not one for twists and turns. For the first half of his life, he only spoke with his knife.

The reason he followed Black Sail was because he was intrigued by Liszt's talk about exploring the so-called real world; without seeing the world, how could one have a worldview?

Perhaps there's nothing that must be resolved by the knife, so there's no need to consider if the knife is fast enough.

Before reaching that ultimate state, he still had to speak with his knife.

He stood up.

"No need for you to settle the bill. We're here to tell Whitman that he should step down. This is the first warning and the final ultimatum. Since a duel is to decide the outcome, I'll duel on behalf of the teacher."

Magnus acknowledging a teacher wasn't just an act; his credit was full, although his respect for Archer was practically zero.

"Now that's more like it."

Yajian Qie showed a slight smile, all being people who had seen big scenes. Whitman was also waiting for tonight's outcome; he had repeatedly urged them before setting out.

The Lostra officials were also sizing people up, deciding who would speak based on who was more ruthless, and who could secure more benefits for the government in the Narrow Sea.

"Hey, hey, things over there seem bad!"

Chuan Che felt suffocated by a girl's chest, his body instincts on high alert, looking around and beginning to realize.

"Trust Lao Li's judgment, keep playing."

Rein thought it was just a facade; removing Whitman was easy, but dealing with Giant Whale Guest was a rare challenge—but that's for later.

Liszt's crew clearly thought the same.

"Pull out his guts."

Archer gave a throat-slitting gesture, telling Magnus not to be a fool.

The people at Wind Anchor were street-smart; no mafia now, it's all gray industry. If you don't mess with the underworld, their fights won't affect you.

And tonight was completely free, with some good shows and a chance to win money; it was worth the ticket!

Under the stage, before the two fighters stood up, Magnus was naturally famous—the strongest Heroic Level was no joke; Yajian Qie was known for his hard fights in Narrow Sea, never needing a second blade to kill.

Shadi mysteriously leaned over to Chanel, wanting to know what she saw in Magnus.

"Your taste is really amazing. He just started mixing with us recently. He gave Zote the final blow, and his character is impeccable, not even uttering a curse."

Shadi also helped Brother Ma with some support.

The seasoned ones were indifferent to Shadi's words; they already knew without him saying so. Their eyes were the measure, this man's youthful spirit almost had the taste of a legendary hero.

Never seen anyone like this.

On the rebooted stage, the fight started much quicker than expected. Yajian Qie just wanted to cut the chaos quickly, never needing a second blade to kill, as much as Magnus wanted to escape the embarrassing situation of being treated like a snack by a rich girl.

Neither cared about the audience interest with additional gambling.

Once on stage, they each drew the blades from their waists.

The biological pursuit of blood and violence compelled even those uninterested to watch the scene.

Duval kept a sharp eye, wanting to spit out all the resentment from before.

"Oh, you play with knives too."

Yajian Qie was intrigued.

This wasn't a proper duel; he requested standard equipment. His blade was official goods, made by Lostra Military Department architects.

The opponent's right hand was disabled, and the mechanical arm always inflexible, so he held the knife in his left hand.

Indeed, holding with the left hand was rare, presumably causing many to suffer losses, but it was only good enough to deal with amateurs.

"I can play a little."

Magnus's long knife hung by his side, waiting for the so-called One Slash Immortal to strike.